Promoter Eddie Hearn maintains that Anthony Joshua will likely have two fights in the next six months or so.
In a recent interview, the Matchroom head suggested that the former heavyweight titlist from London could return to the ring by December or January against an unnamed opponent.
Hearn also sounded optimistic that Joshua could potentially fight Deontay Wilder next spring, as late as April.
Talk of a Joshua vs. Wilder fight has gone on for the past year but the match-up took a blow after it became clear that backers in Saudi Arabia were unable to come up with the necessary funds to stage that fight in the region.
Hearn has continually maintained that he and Wilder’s advisor, Shelly Finkel, are fielding potential offers from other countries.
“He wants to, he really wants to,” Hearn said of Joshua in an interview with iFL TV. “We’ve been on calls with him all week. There’s a lot happening with the IBF situation. We’ll have to see. I think he’s going to fight in December or January.
“I think the Wilder fight, realistically, is not going to happen until March or April, at the latest. But he wants to fight. He wants to go back to camp and asked us to try and make him a fight for December, whether that spills into January we’ll see.”
Hearn mentioned the possibility of Joshua fighting the IBF No. 1 contender, Filip Hrgovic, in the event that the IBF title becomes vacant. But that possibility has dimmed since the IBF recently declared Otto Wallin as the No. 2 contender for the heavyweight belt. Joshua sits at No. 3.
While Hearn has been sanguine about making Wilder-Joshua, despite the Saudi Arabia fallout, his optimism is not shared by all involved parties. Wilder’s trainer, Malik Scott, recently poured water over a Wilder-Hearn match-up, saying Joshua has not publicly clamored for the fight enough.
